- It’s Big 12 Awards time! This has been one of the weirder Big 12 seasons in recent memory even though the team at the top is still the same (hi Kansas!) Perhaps the surprise in this was that neither the league player nor coach of the year originated from Lawrence. Marcus Smart is totally deserving of Big 12 POY as Oklahoma State’s Mr. Everything. Regardless of how many game-winners he’s hit, Smart is the type of player any program covets — talented and selfless. He is the first Cowboy since James Anderson (2009-10) and the first freshman since Blake Griffin (2008-09) to lock down the award. Bruce Weber won Big 12 Coach of the Year in his first season. Despite what happened on last year’s Illinois team, Weber is still a good coach. What may have been the most confusing hire a year ago is now paying immediate dividends for Kansas State.
- Matt Norlander tells us that despite getting their tails kicked by Baylor, Kansas’ Bill Self is amazing at what he does. Yeah we all know the incredible success he’s had at KU but before he even arrived in Lawrence, Self certainly had his influence in other leagues as well. He won two of three regular season titles at both Tulsa and Illinois which makes 2012-13 his 13th league title in 15 years of coaching. He’s only 50 years old and already has over 500 wins as a head coach — when all is said and done, Self is my odds-on-favorite to eventually catch and pass Coach K in career wins.
- Speaking of Baylor, with an at-large bid in limbo, they throttled Kansas Saturday in Waco. The Bears are now 18-13 and sport a 9-9 record in Big 12 play, but are probably still slotted for the NIT. How can they change that? They play their first game Thursday against Oklahoma State, and if they were to beat the Cowboys for a second time, it would set up a possible match-up with Kansas State on Friday. If they get past K-State, they’ll then have 20 wins including OSU (twice), KSU, Kansas and Kentucky. But again, these are too many “ifs” for a team currently living on the bubble.
- When you’re a team like Oklahoma whose fate is pretty much decided, how can you find motivation heading into the postseason? Losing to TCU would just about do it. They fell behind 22 points at halftime and made as many three-pointers as I did on Saturday (0-for-16). OU appears to be a team safely into the tournament with a RPI of 33 and SOS of 18 but a good showing against Iowa State Friday would do wonders for the psyche.
- What a difference Myck Kabongo makes for Texas. Before he returned for the Iowa State game on February 13, the Longhorns had two conference wins and now they have seven. With that said, is it crazy to think that Texas could make a run in the Big 12 Tournament? If they don’t win it, it would probably be for a run to the NIT but I could see it happening. The chances of Texas winning this tournament, according to TeamRankings.com, are at 1%. So, yes, I’m saying there’s a chance.